Lampe Berger (spoken with French accent, it's not a lamp you put ketchup on!). Just bought a fragrance lamp by this company. It's amazing. It's better than incense and far more thorough, yet suble! A Google search will tell you more.
I'd like to meet:
Robert Lamm, James Pankow, Mario Cuomo (which wouldn't be too hard, given my family's connection), Jesus Christ (with an interpreter), Andy Partridge & Colin Moulding, Alexondra Ambrosini, and Heather Duncliffe, my British pen pal from when I was 15 (and again when I was 28), yes I've searched, even called an operator on a pay phone when I was in London, who said she needed an address. Imagine London with an excess of Heather Duncliffes...
Music:
Whatever grooves. Seriously. Is it balanced and does it make my head bob? This applies to music of any genre. Give me an original melody with some surprisingly clever chord changes to support it, and if that bass line is doing something better than just following the root, more power to it.
Movies:
When the Levees Broke, The Interpreter... revisiting The Big Lebowski was quite a pleasure.
Television:
Northern Exposure is my favorite thing ever on TV. I'm planning another "Sposathon" here soon, with like-minded people. I can't believe something that good was ever on TV. I have almost no idea what's on TV now.
Books:
Geoff Emerick's Here There & Everywhere: My Life Recording The Beatles was great. Staying on the autobiographies for the moment with Shatner's Star Trek Memories (surprisingly good). Some others: You'll See It When You Believe It (Dyer), Jitterbug Perfume, The Bush Dyslexicon, You Cannot Be Serious (McEnroe), Our Dumb Century, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Brain Droppings, Seven Shades of Black, Pure Baseball, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Past Lives, Past Masters...faves when I was a kid: Harriet the Spy and A Wrinkle In Time.
Heroes:
Eliot Spitzer. Can anyone crash faster than that?
